d telling what he had seen:

"Last summer I was in Nacogdoches, an inland village of Texas, and
while transacting some business that had called me thither, I
incidentally heard a curious road spoken of, and much speculation was
entertained as to who could have been the builders. 'It never was built
by the Mexicans,' said one, who seemed both learned and gentlemanly,
'for had it been some record would have survived, and I am confident
there is none, for I have made the early annals of the country my sole
study for years, and must have found a record or something to throw
light upon such a costly and stupendous undertaking had it been built
by them.' This was enough to arouse my curiosity, for I had already
seen works of art still perfect, that were known to be older than any
erected by the inhabitants of this continent at the time of the
conquest; and, joining the group of gentlemen, learned that the road
referred to was a broad paved avenue leading west, and was said to
extend many hundred miles: so far indeed into the wilderness that its
termination was unknown. Rumor said it terminated at the Pacific Ocean.
My resolution was at once taken. I determined to return to the Pacific
valley by this route, for if there was such a road it would be
conferring an incalculable benefit on travellers to explore it. My
business completed, in company with four others, one of them being Don
Quavale, an amateur antiquarian, with his servant, Jose, and a man by
the name of Campbell, we set out. I had a servant, Diego, the same who
you see here every day. It was a small party for such an adventure, but
we were not aware of the dangers that lay before us, and we entered the
wilderness with light hearts."

"You followed it up, then?" said Howe; "bravo! you priests have nerve
as well as kind words, it seems."

"Yes: we followed it up," replied the curate, quietly. "Light hearted
and eager to explore the whole extent of this stupendous monument of a
lost people, we entered the wilderness, and soon struck the object of
our search. We examined it closely and found it about eighty feet wide
and paved with granite in slabs twenty feet long and ten wide, and were
evidently of great thickness. The whole road was covered with a soil,
made up of decayed leaves and branches sometimes, more than a foot in
thickness. Still we were enabled to follow the road without the
slightest difficulty, as it would not support a large growth of trees,
for the bl